The movie itself deserves 5 Stars, hands down.

The print is a bit washed out, but it's nothing that a slight adjustment in your screen's contrast won't fix.

The watermark is nearly invisible and does not disturb the viewing of this fabulous classic noir.

The sound is perfect.

Thank you for posting

with absolute crap quality, washed out blacks, and most insulting of all an obnoxious watermark of the "minimalisT" that lets you know not to bother watching or downloading. I'm sure the other reviewers just blindly gave five stars to the great movie this is instead of the shit restoration that this cultural terrorist has done yet again.

The Maltese Falcon is a 1941 American film noir written and directed by John Huston in his directorial debut, based on the 1930 novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett and indebted to the 1931 movie of the same name. It stars Humphrey Bogart as private investigator Sam Spade and Mary Astor as his femme fatale client. Gladys George, Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet co-star, with the last appearing in his film debut. The story follows a San Francisco private detective and his dealings with three unscrupulous adventurers, all of whom are competing to obtain a jewel-encrusted falcon statuette.

The film premiered in New York City on October 3, 1941, and was nominated for three Academy Awards. Considered one of the greatest films of all time, it was one of the first 25 films selected by the Library of Congress to be included in the National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". It is a part of Roger Ebert's series The Great Movies and was cited by Panorama du Film Noir Américain as the first major film noir.

Plot
"In 1539 the Knight Templars [sic] of Malta, paid tribute to Charles V of Spain, by sending him a Golden Falcon encrusted from beak to claw with rarest jewels—but pirates seized the galley carrying this priceless token and the fate of the Maltese Falcon remains a mystery to this day."

—Introductory text appearing after the film's opening credits

In San Francisco in 1941, private investigators Sam Spade and Miles Archer meet prospective client Ruth Wonderly. She claims to be looking for her missing sister, who ran off from their home in New York and came to the city with a man named Floyd Thursby. Archer agrees to help get her sister back. However, later that night, the police inform Spade that Archer has been killed. Spade tries calling his client at her hotel to discover she has checked out. Back at his apartment, he is grilled by Police Detective Tom Polhaus and Lieutenant Dundy, who tell him that Thursby was murdered the same evening. Dundy suggests that Spade had the opportunity and motive to kill Thursby, who likely killed Archer.

Later that morning, Spade meets Wonderly, now calling herself Brigid O'Shaughnessy, who confesses that her story was made up. However, she convinces Spade to investigate the murders and also reveals that Thursby was her partner. He took advantage of her and probably killed Archer, but she claims to have no idea who killed Thursby. At his office, Spade meets Joel Cairo, who first offers him $5,000 to find a "black figure of a bird". When Spade is skeptical, Cairo pulls a gun on him and searches the room for it. Spade knocks Cairo out and goes through his belongings. When Cairo comes round, he hires Spade.

From the trailer:

Gutman and Cairo meet with Spade.

Spade confronts O'Shaughnessy.
On his way to visit O'Shaughnessy later that evening, Spade is followed by a young man but manages to evade him. When he tells O'Shaughnessy about Cairo, her nervousness indicates she knows him. He arranges a meeting between the two at his apartment, where Cairo becomes agitated when O'Shaughnessy reveals that the "Fat Man" is in San Francisco. When Spade goes to Cairo's hotel in the morning, he spots Wilmer Cook, the young man who trailed him earlier. Wilmer works for Kasper Gutman, the "Fat Man". In his hotel suite, Gutman relates the history of the Maltese Falcon, then offers Spade his pick of $25,000 for the bird and another $25,000 after its sale, or a quarter of the proceeds from its sale.

Spade passes out because his drink is spiked. Wilmer and Cairo come in from another room and leave with Gutman. On coming round, Spade searches the suite and finds a newspaper with the arrival time of the freighter La Paloma circled. He goes to the dock, only to find the ship on fire. Later, the ship's captain Jacoby is shot several times and staggers into Spade's office before dying. The bundle he was clutching contains the Maltese Falcon. O'Shaughnessy calls the office, gives an address, then screams before the line goes dead.

Spade stashes the package at the bus terminal, then goes to the address, which turns out to be an empty lot. Spade returns home to discover O'Shaughnessy hiding in a doorway. He takes her inside and finds Gutman, Cairo, and Wilmer waiting for him, guns drawn. Gutman gives Spade $10,000 for the Falcon, but Spade tells them that part of his price is someone he can turn over to the police for the murders of Thursby and Captain Jacoby, suggesting Wilmer. After some intense negotiation, Gutman and Cairo agree and Wilmer is knocked out and disarmed.

Just after dawn, Spade calls his secretary, Effie Perine, to bring him the bundle. However, when Gutman inspects the statuette, he finds it is a fake and Wilmer escapes during the tumult. Recovering his composure, Gutman invites Cairo to return with him to Istanbul to continue their quest. After they leave, Spade calls the police and tells them where to pick up the pair. Spade then angrily confronts O'Shaughnessy, telling her he knows she killed Archer to implicate Thursby, her unwanted accomplice. She confesses, but begs Spade not to turn her over to the police. Despite his feelings for her, Spade gives O'Shaughnessy up, then submits the statuette as evidence, describing it as "the stuff that dreams are made of".

Cast

A promotional still showing O'Shaughnessy and Cairo clashing in front of the police
Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade
Mary Astor as Ruth Wonderly/Brigid O'Shaughnessy
Gladys George as Iva Archer
Peter Lorre as Joel Cairo
Barton MacLane as Lieutenant Dundy
Lee Patrick as Effie Perine
Sydney Greenstreet as Kasper Gutman
Ward Bond as Detective Tom Polhaus
Jerome Cowan as Miles Archer
Elisha Cook Jr. as Wilmer Cook
James Burke as Luke, hotel detective
Murray Alper as Frank Richman, taxi driver
John Hamilton as District Attorney Bryan
Walter Huston as Captain Jacoby (uncredited)
Productio

Background

Hammett had once worked as a private detective for the Pinkerton Detective Agency in San Francisco, and he used his birth name "Samuel" for the story's protagonist. He wrote of the book's main character in 1934:

Spade has no original. He is a dream man in the sense that he is what most of the private detectives I worked with would like to have been, and, in their cockier moments, thought they approached.

Other characters in The Maltese Falcon were based on people whom he met or worked with during that time. The character of sinister "Fat Man" Kasper Gutman was based on Maundy Gregory, an overweight British detective-entrepreneur who was involved in many sophisticated endeavors and capers, including a search for a long-lost treasure like the jeweled Falcon. The character of Joel Cairo was based on a criminal whom Hammett arrested for forgery in Pasco, Washington, in 1920.

The novel was serialized in five parts in Black Mask during 1929 and 1930 before being published in book form in 1930 by Alfred A. Knopf. Warner Bros. quickly bought the film rights of the novel, and made an adaptation the following year starring Ricardo Cortez and Bebe Daniels. The film closely followed the novel, including its references to homosexuality and a scene of Spade strip-searching Wonderly for a missing $1,000 bill. These topics made the film unscreenable a few years later under the Motion Picture Production Code, who refused to grant the studio a certificate when they tried to re-release it in 1935. The studio remade the story as the more Code-friendly Satan Met a Lady starring Bette Davis and Warren William. The film changed much of the novel's elements and became a comedy. However, it was panned by critics and audiences alike, including Davis, who referred to it as "junk."

humphrey bogart is the absolute goat in this one!!

thanks for the link

Takes you back to when you had to Act in a movie and carry it through the film and Bogart nails it here great script

I've just watched The 1931 version of The Maltese Falcon. I am grateful to The Archive and the up-loader. Both great movies!
See the original 1931version here:
https://archive.org/details/1931-the-maltese-falcon-el-halcon-maltes-roy-del-ruth
Despite softening the edgier elements of the story due to the Hayes code, the main theme strong character acting and direction make this remake a keeper.
:)